The Maryland Campaign of September 1862

Completed in the early 1900s, The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 is still the essential source for anyone seeking understanding of the bloodiest day in all of American history. As the U.S. War Department's official expert on the Battle of Antietam, Ezra Carman corresponded with and interviewed hundreds of other veterans from both sides of the conflict to produce a comprehensive history of the campaign that dashed the Confederacy's best hope for independence and ushered in the Emancipation Proclamation. Nearly a century after its completion, Carman's manuscript has finally made its way into print, in an attractively packaged one-volume edition painstakingly edited, annotated, and indexed by Joseph Pierro. This edition, the first to publish the entire Carman manuscript, including the fifteen appendices, is designed for ease of use, with standardized punctuation and spelling, and conveniently footnoted explanations wherever necessary. The Maryland Campaign of September 1862 is a crucial document for anyone interested in delving below the surface of the military campaign that forever altered the course of American history, and is still the only complete edition of Carman's work on the market. **Due to an unfortunate case of mistaken identity, the man currently appearing in the frontispiece of The Maryland Campaign of September, 1862 is not the actual Ezra Carman, but someone who looks remarkably similar to him. The real Mr. Carman can be found at: http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/cwp2003001783/PP/. We apologize for the mistake, and will correct this error in further printings.

Joseph Pierro

Chapter 1 Maryland; Chapter 2 The Confederate Invasion of Maryland; Chapter 3 The Confederate Army Crosses the Potomac; Chapter 4 General McClellan and the Army of the Potomac; Chapter 5 The Advance of the Army of the Potomac from Washington to Frederick and South Mountain; Chapter 6 Harper's Ferry; Chapter 7 South Mountain (Cramptons Gap); Chapter 8 South Mountain (Turners Gap); Chapter 9 From South Mountain to the Antietam; Chapter 10 McLaws and Franklin in Pleasant Valley; Chapter 11 The Field of Antietam1Carman divided his original manuscript into two volumes. The second volume begins with "The Field of Antietam."; Chapter 12 The Prelude to Antietam; Chapter 13 The Union and Confederate Armies; Chapter 14 The Battle on the Union Right and Confederate Left: Daybreak to 7:30 a.m.; Chapter 15 The Battle on the Union Right and Confederate Left: 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.; Chapter 16 The West Woods and the Dunkard Church; Chapter 17 The Sunken Road ("Bloody Lane")1Each Chapter of Carman's original manuscript is introduced by its own title page, with the title restated again at the top of the first page of the Chapter 's text. In the case of this Chapter, the title page reads "The Sunken Road," but the title above the text reads "The Bloody Lane."; Chapter 18 The Dunkard Church; Chapter 19 The Middle Bridge, the Fifth Corps, and the Advance of Pleasonton's Cavalry Division1As with many portions of Carman's original manuscript, this Chapter contains several differing sets of numbers for each page. The first page of extant text has a numeral "2" in its upper right corner, and unlike the first page of other Chapter s the text here does not begin with a repetition of the Chapter number and title. This suggests that the first page of this Chapter is missing. However, the folder containing this Chapter of the manuscript contains two different title pages written in Carman's own hand: one reading " Chapter XX" (which is how Carman ultimately designated this Chapter in his final ordering) and titled as it appears herein, and a photocopy of a now-missing page on which Carman had once written " Chapter XIX" and the title "Middle Bridge" before crossing out the latter portion and replacing it with the longer title. Between these two title pages and the first page of text are four maps (two printed, two hand-drawn) showing the section of the battlefield covered in this Chapter ; all are marked " Chapter XX" in Carman's hand.After careful reading of the text, the editor has concluded that no text has been lost from this Chapter. The peculiarity of the numbering and styling of its first page is a result of Carman's later consolidation of disparate material into a single Chapter.; Chapter 20 The Rohrbach (Burnside) Bridge1In his original manuscript, Carman entitled this Chapter "The Burnside Bridge."; Chapter 21 General Lee Recrosses the Potomac; Chapter 22 Shepherdstown Ford; Chapter 23 The Results of the Maryland Campaign1In his original manuscript, Carman opens this Chapter with tabular results of the losses on both sides for the entire Maryland campaign.These are presented herein as Appendices M and N.; Chapter 24 Lincoln and McClellan;